Last night, Steve and I continued our tradition of grocery shopping the Friday before Thanksgiving. Not only is this outing fun for us since we incorporate dinner before shopping, we also beat the giant crowds that will be flocking to the grocery stores for the next week.

This year’s trip didn’t disappoint. Our first stop was Total Wine in New Jersey, where we picked up alcoholic beverages for the week. Our strategy at Total Wine was simple: buy decent wine and beer without going overboard. Considering this year’s festivities are for all over 21 (well, there’s one minor), we also needed to have some filler beer that guests could drink after consuming one or two nice microbrews.

Here’s what we came away with at the end of the shopping trip:

Holiday Drinking, Beer and Wine Style

We bought a variety of local and cheap beers, bottled and boxed wines, and a case of Natural Light (my dad’s favorite) that, to me, goes in the undrinkable category. While it would be wonderful to treat our guests with only local or notable microbrews and mid-shelf wines, our alcohol choices came down to staying within our budget. Plus, we have a stocked liquor cabinet at home and can break into several hard liquor choices at any time.

I wasn’t able to use Martha’s “Party Calculator” that I enjoyed reading in the November issue of Living since I have guests for an entire week, but I thought her rule-of-thumb alcohol guidelines for parties was fantastic:

Wine: One bottle per two people per hour

Beer: Two beers per person per hour

Spirits: One bottle per five people per hour

Mixers: Three bottles for each bottle of alcohol

Ice: At least one pound per person per hour

I can’t wait to get the libations flowing at this house. I won’t have to wait long since my first guests arrive tonight!

While it’s fun to host overnight guests, it can be an expensive endeavor. If you are like me, you want to roll out the red carpet for your guests without breaking the bank.

Recently, I have come up with some budget-friendly recipes that are standouts when entertaining:

• The first is a good dinner entrée. It’s Dave Liberman’s Pink Vodka Sauce and Penne. This is an easy dish to prepare with company sitting in the kitchen, since it requires minimal ingredients and is only a few steps. In my opinion, vodka sauce is a huge treat (with the heavy cream it’s not an everyday meal) and a memorable dish (the vodka adds a zing to the ubiquitous tomato sauce). As a bonus, pasta is a cheap food and satisfying to the masses. I usually pair this dish with a nice green salad and wine. I recommend making enough for eight servings so you can enjoy it again as leftovers. I have eaten this well into the week after a weekend of entertaining.
• My other “go-to” meal is challah french toast for breakfast. Again, this is not low in calories, but it is an indulgence worthy of good company. I buy challah at our local bakery and prepare it as I would regular french toast. Then I set out fun condiments like Nutella and cinnamon sugar to dress it up. It’s rich and satisfying, yet easy and affordable. Serve with a side of fruit and no one will be complaining!

No matter who you are entertaining, these easy and affordable recipes are a must-try. They will satisfy your guests and you will still have money in your pocket at the end of the visit. Plus, they are easy enough to execute, which will leave you with more time to socialize with your visitors!

Holiday Cheer via Snail Mail

Call me old fashioned, but I get excited when it’s time to buy holiday-themed postage for my Christmas cards. While running errands today, I bought this year’s winter stamps.

Although writing Christmas cards can be a tedious task, it is one that I enjoy during the holidays and hope that it continues through the ages despite the surge of the Internet and other technology. To me, it’s not the holidays without some colorful envelopes in the mailbox every day in December.

For the next week, I am going to share tips for entertaining crowds during the holidays. As a twentysomething who works full time, entertaining can be a daunting task, particuarly because I have a small house and am a perfectionist, thanks to studying Martha Stewart Living for the last fifteen years.

I hope I can bestow some advice for both type-A personalities like myself and those who aren’t so anal retentive so all hostesses and hosts can have an enjoyable, and nearly perfect, holiday celebration!

Make Lists to Keep You Organized When Hosting Family and Friends

I am conducting my third large holiday gathering as an adult. Prior to this Thanksgiving, I hosted my family for a week during Christmas four years ago and last year’s Thanksgiving dinner, though I didn’t have the large number of out-of-town guests.

While I don’t claim to be an expert at hosting holidays, I do enjoy entertaining and think that, in the past, my guests have enjoyed themselves. I credit my list-making abilities with past hosting successes and recommend that hosts and hostesses get into this habit. Lists help one consider the many elements of entertaining. After all, it’s not just a grocery list that one needs to write. I recommend creating the following lists when entertaining family and friends from out of town over the holidays:

• An itinerary that details the visit. Use this list to document arrivals and departures, activities for each day of the visit, and meals to be prepared. Send this list out to guests a few weeks prior to their arrival. That way, everyone has a chance to chime in on what they would like to do and plans can be modified to meet specific needs.
• A to-do list specifically for the hosts. Make this list a week or two before the visit that considers all of the errands and tasks that need to be completed before guests arrive. Need to run to Home Goods to find a new table cloth? Realized that you don’t have serving spoons for the buffet? Observed that you haven’t dusted the house for six months? This list will help you organize all tasks that need to take place prior to guests arriving. Include items like “find recipes for dinner,” “wash guest room sheets,” and “make grocery list” on this big-picture list. As you cross items off, you’ll feel better about the approaching event.
• A grocery list. Finally, the most obvious list. When writing this one up, include measurements for each item on your list. Multiple recipes may call for the same item, so make sure you buy enough butter for pies, mashed potatoes, and the stuffing. Also, create separate lists for specialty stores you may be visiting, such as the wine store, the cheese shop, or the bakery.

List making is the first step to hosting during the holidays. If you find yourself feeling stressed, you have lists to review that will walk you though the steps involved in managing a flock of family and friends. Plus, if you keep the lists from year to year, you can refer back to them and not have to reinvent the wheel.

Happy hosting!

. . . I’ll be hosting the whole family! That’s right, I convinced my entire West-Coast-based immediate family to get themselves over here to celebrate Thanksgiving. I couldn’t be more excited for the week to come.

In preparation for the big visit, I began working on my Thanksgiving menu this weekend. My approach this year is to do simple, classic dishes really well. There will be no chutneys, crazy mashed potatoes, or homemade breads. Instead, I will focus my time on enjoying everyone and fix food that will satisfy. I plan to do a nice main veggie dish for myself, my brother, and his girlfriend, as we are all vegetarians, but I won’t be putting a Tofurkey on the table.

My table decor will complement my simple approach to the meal. I found some fun fall accessories at Pier 1 this weekend. Though I would love to channel my inner Martha Stewart for the festivities, making a laborious craft project as a centerpiece isn’t going to happen this year.

I wish I could post a picture of the craft room right now. It’s a bit messy, considering that I am now working on about ten projects, all due for Christmas. But, since there is a good chance people reading this blog may be recipients of my gifts, I am going to have to hold off on doing pattern reviews and showcasing my finished goods until after the gift-giving season. But, in order to have good blog posts, I have to hunker down in this room for a good bit of time to execute all of my ideas.

All is not lost though! I promise to have a few good projects to post before Christmas. I am taking two sewing classes in December, one on making cloth bowls and the other on free motion quilting. I also hope to complete some decorations for the house and share my festive spirit throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is two weeks away?

I am back from my final business trip of the season, which is really exciting. Now my schedule is cleared for lots of sewing projects. I am feeling some pressure of the holiday deadlines, but I am determined to push through!

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is coming so quickly. While I am focused on Christmas for gift-giving purposes, I am also concentrating on Thanksgiving, since my entire family will be visiting! I started looking at new recipes and can’t wait for their boisterous arrival in less than two weeks!

I realize I have to put away the “To Nat, From Nat” projects for a while. The beautiful new “Love” fabric I bought from Amy Butler to make a new bag will have to wait until January as will the cute Favorite Things’ nightgown that I cut out a few weeks ago. It’s time to embrace elfdom!

Alas, work travel is here again. This time I am jetting off to Montreal.

Hope to post new projects when I get back on Tuesday!

I was so excited to receive my copy of One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins in the mail today via Amazon. I have been wanting to get my hands on this since my coworker brought back from BEA a promotional brochure about the book. There is something super-appealing about the purpose of this book. Now I can buy a yard of a cute fabric without a particular project in mind and know I will find something to do with it.

I haven’t had much time to read through it yet, but I am already eyeing up the oven mitt and hot pads, the quilted circles shoulder bag, the not-ugly car trash bag, and the origami organizer, just to name a few cute patterns from this terrific project-filled book.

I hope to post finished projects and review the patterns from the book in coming months, so stay tuned!

After a super-fun weekend with my good friend Emily, I am excited to write and show off my new pajama pants. After purchasing this fun  “Gothic Flower” fabric from Patty Young’s Mezzanine line made by Michael Miller Fabrics last month, I finally got around to stitching it up using Favorite Things’ “Sleep Well” pajama pattern.

My friend and I each made a pair of the pj bottoms, which we promptly lounged in all weekend.

Click to read more about how they came together.Why I wanted to do this project: I was excited to try pajamas since I do not sew a lot of clothing items. I figured pjs were a safe venture. Also, there are so many cute fabrics and this is a good way to use a favorite print.

How long it took me: Between cutting out the pattern and fabric and sewing the pieces together, I would estimate this project took two hours total. We added a step of zig-zagging the individual pieces prior to sewing, which may have added some time.

Bumps in the process: A few things about the pattern. As I mentioned above, we zig-zag stitched the sides of each of the four pieces prior to sewing them together to avoid future fraying. Also, the pattern does not instruct you to cut out mirror image pieces of the front and back of the pattern, so make sure to fold the fabric lengthwise to cut two pieces at the same time for the front and back. Also, the pajamas run pretty baggy, so I think a medium would fit a lot of different sizes, so I wouldn’t get too hung up on sizing.

What I learned: Pajamas are a pretty easy project and great for filling up a mental health day! Emily and I had a great time stitching our projects together without a lot of aggravation. I would give this project a try!